The eagerly anticipated sales showdown between Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” and One Direction’s “Made In The AM” fell convincingly in favor of the former.
According to Nielsen Music, “Purpose” sold 521,521 US copies during its inaugural week of release. One Direction’s album, which entered the market in conjunction with the same November 13-19 tracking week, sold 401,837 copies.
They claim the top two respective slots on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.
The Bieber total is the best opening week mark of his career (surpassing the 374,000 for “Believe”) and is the best official total registered thus far in 2015. Adele’s “25,” which is on track to sell in the neighborhood of 3 million copies between November 20 and 26, will immediately takeover the latter distinction.
While not the best sales mark of 1D’s career, the “MITAM” total tops the 387,000 posted by previous album “FOUR.”
Both “Purpose” and “MITAM” obliterated industry expectations, which called for bows in the 300-350,000 range.
— With Track Equivalent Albums (10 single sales = 1 unit) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (1500 single streams = 1 unit) added to the calcuation, “Purpose” posted a first-week unit total of 649,000. “Made In The AM” generated 459,000 consumption units. The totals position “Purpose” and “MITAM” at #1 and #2, respectively, on the revamped Billboard 200.
